Coffee with a Journalist

On today's show, we're joined by Joel Shannon, a reporter for USA Today's Nation Now team. Joel covers trending news stories including weather, health, and national news, and recently has covered stories about COVID-19. On the episode, Joel shares about the unique way Now News works with local news publications, why pitching him might be tough, how he works with beat writers from USA Today, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Joshua Pinkay, a senior editor for Obvious Magazine as well as SoCal Magazine. For Obvious Magazine, Joshua covers various entertainment topics from interviews and personal profiles to news and updates within the industry. And for SoCal Magazine, he covers events, news, and human-interest stories with notable members of the Southern California community. On the show today, Joshua tells us about his focus on human interest-oriented stories, his approach to crafting stories that are built for a wide audience, and lots more.

On today's show, we're joined by Macy Williams, a senior shopping editor for POPSUGAR. As her bio says she, "literally shops for a living," and writes about the best fashion, beauty, fitness, and home products. On the episode, Macy shares about the hundreds of pitches she receives and how relevant they are to her beat, the ways she builds relationships with PR pros, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Katharine Schwab, the deputy editor of Fast Company's technology section. Katharine covers large tech companies and how technology affects everyday consumers. Katharine talks about her transition from writer to editor, the importance of having a good subject line to grab her attention, how the tech team at Fast Company decides what stories to write about, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Robert Archer, senior editor at CE Pro Magazine, and Tech Editor for Commercial Integrator, a sister pub to CE Pro. Robert covers a wide range of consumer electronics including audio, TVs, computer electronics, and more. Robert shares the types of stories CE Pro covers as a trade publication, the types of tech products he covers for the magazine, what he enjoys most about his job, and more.

On today's show, we're joined by Eugene Kim, the chief tech correspondent at Business Insider. Eugene specializes in covering Amazon and e-commerce. Eugene talks about his unique approach to covering one of the most profitable tech companies, his interest in seeking out data-driven stories, why pitches should be short and to the point, and more.

Alana Hope Levinson, the deputy editor for MEL Magazine, sits down with us this week on the show. Alana tells us how the magazine got its start and by who, she shares the types of stories that interest her most, how you can pitch the rest of the editorial team stories and shares about one of her recent articles surrounding liquor stores and quarantine.

This week we're joined by Sara Jerde, publishing editor for Adweek. Sara gives an inside look into her favorite animal from childhood til now, her role covering the media industry, how she talks to sources daily, the effects COVID-19 has had on the newsroom, and more.

On the show this week we sit down with Adam Popescu, freelance journalist featured in The New York Times, Fast Company, Businessweek, and more. Adam talks about writing human-centric stories, his preference for building relationships with sources, his thoughts on local news, what's like being a freelance journalist, and more!

On the show for today, we sit down with Brenda Stolyar from Mashable. Brenda gives us an inside look into pitches she likes to receive, the "crazy" story angles she works on at Mashable, her love for reading and lots more.